Terror taking a toll on Kenyan society, UN envoy says

An image grab taken from AFP TV shows a Kenyan soldier on September 21, 2013 inside the Westgate mall in Nairobi during the terror attack. The threat of further terrorist attacks is having negative effects on Kenya's "social dynamics" a Kenyan diplomat has said. Photo/FILE 

In Summary

• Koki Muli Grignon, a diplomat working at Kenya's UN mission since early this year, said acts of terror have sown fear and suspicion
• The Westgate attack and other incidents of terror are causing some Kenyans to view others with suspicion, Ambassador Grignon says

By KEVIN J. KELLEY
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The threat of further terrorist attacks is having negative effects on Kenya's "social dynamics," the nation's deputy UN ambassador told an audience in New York on Thursday.

Koki Muli Grignon, a diplomat working at Kenya's UN mission since early this year, said acts of terror have sown fear and suspicion in a society striving to maintain "a fragile and complex balance" between security and individual rights.

"You now have to be frisked when you go to church in Kenya," Ambassador Grignon said in her talk at the New York City Bar Association.

"You can't trust your neighbour anymore," the envoy lamented.

The Westgate attack and other incidents of terror are causing some Kenyans to view others with suspicion based only on a person's name, faith or place of origin, Ambassador Grignon said.

The Kenyan government is striving to protect citizens' rights and to prevent violence arising from ethnic prejudice, she noted.

PROMOTING TOLERANCE
President Kenyatta is promoting tolerance in Kenya's diverse society, Ms Grignon said, citing as an example his appointment of Amina Mohamed, a Kenyan of Somali descent, as the nation's Foreign minister.

Increased spending on defence and internal security is diverting resources needed for Kenya to achieve its Vision 2030 goal of becoming a prosperous nation, Ms Grignon told a 150-member audience comprising attorneys and Kenyans living in the New York area.

Such initiatives, while unfortunate, are "necessary" in order to guard against attacks that would take the lives of more Kenyans, the envoy said.

Asked about the ICC deferral effort in the UN Security Council, Ambassador Grignon acknowledged that some member-states are opposed to pos

She added that the timing of some ICC announcements and decisions related to the Kenyan cases suggests that the court is a "politicised" body